Chapter 21

As the warmth of the morning sun flooded Carol's face, she began to stir, yawning and stretching against the white cotton sheets. She felt the warmth of his face and the stubble from his cheek against her stomach, and she moved blindly moved her hand down to stroke his hair. She was a little sore, a little stiff, but in that beautiful way that reminded her of every moment with him, of every breath tickling her skin, raising the hairs on the back of her neck, of every word he'd whispered against her ear as he'd made love to her.

"Time is it?" Daryl murmured against her stomach, turning his head to kiss her under her belly button. She giggled and stretched again, turning to squint at the alarm clock.

"Just after noon," she said softly, a hint of surprise in her voice. "I guess we were tired."

"Think you broke me," he replied.

"I did not," she laughed, giving his hair a little tug. He crawled up to kiss her good morning before flopping onto his back beside her. "We missed sunrise."

"We got plenty of sunrises to make up for it," he reminded her. "You hungry?"

"Starving," she replied softly, stroking his arm as she rolled over to rest her head against his chest.

"Breakfast first or shower sex?"

"You're awfully confident, Mr. Dixon," she said with a grin, placing a kiss to the center of his chest. He just grinned at her. "Shower then. But I need a toothbrush, and so do you. I'm allowed to tell you that now, right?" Daryl snorted at that.

"You sayin' I got morning breath?"

"I'm saying we both do, and you're a saint for not mentioning it first." She kissed his forehead and started out of bed. He caught her around the middle, but she wriggled away quickly, padding across the thinly-carpeted floor toward the bathroom. Her cell phone rang, and she groaned. "Perfect timing." With a sigh, she tossed him an apologetic look. "You can start without me, but don't you dare finish." Daryl smirked at her then.

"Can't make no promises. Hurry up, woman." He gave her behind a playful slap, and she shot him a glare as he started stripping off in front of her, taking his time, never taking his eyes off of her as she fumbled with her phone. "Stop! It's Sophia." Daryl stopped and ducked into the bathroom, giving Carol a moment to talk to her daughter. "Hi, honey!"

"Mom! Jesus, I've been calling you for two days! Where are you?!"

"Honey, I'm so sorry. The battery died, and I just got around to charging it last night. Is everything ok?"

"Mom, that's not like you at all. Is everything ok? I dropped by yesterday, but the house was locked up like Fort Knox. And the guys at Daryl's shop said he'd taken a few personal days. Is he with you?"

"Honey, I'm sorry I didn't tell you. We got a little swept up with celebrating our anniversary, and…"

"Did he do something huge? Please tell me he didn't get expensive. Wait. No. Please tell me you didn't scold him for getting expensive, because he really does love you, Mom." Carol smiled brightly at that and laughed.

"He took me to dinner and to his hunting cabin," Carol promised. "And I think for your sake and mine, I won't give you the rest of the details."

"Appreciated," Sophia snorted. "I've been driving Carl crazy. I could blame it on pregnancy hormones, but I was worried, because you always call me, and…"

"I'm sorry, honey. I didn't mean to worry you. Daryl and I are together, we're fine, and my phone will not be neglected anymore, ok?"

"So are you at his cabin?"

"Yeah... We're probably coming back into town tomorrow," Carol promised. "I've got to go, ok? I'll call you later. Love you, sweetie."

"Love you, Mama." Carol hung up and tossed her phone onto the bed, heading into the bathroom. She quickly gargled with minty hotel mouthwash and then slipped into the shower with Daryl. "I just lied to my kid." Daryl turned to face her, wrapping his arms around her.

"What'd you say?"

"I told her we're still in the cabin," she said with a sheepish grin. "I hate lying to my kid."

"You could've told her the truth," he offered.

"How do I explain that we went back to Florida to screw around in the first hotel we made love in?" she asked, cocking her head to the side. "Or the rest of it?" DaryI smirked and leaned in for a quick kiss. "I told her we'd be home tomorrow," she replied softly, as he bent down and kissed along her shoulder and collarbone. She leaned her head back into the hot stream and sighed. "I like it here. No responsibilities. Nobody to answer to. It's just us. Tomorrow, we go home and face the music."

"We're grown adults. Ain't nothin' wrong with us goin' off and leavin' without tellin' nobody." He sucked at the hollow of her throat, sliding his hand up the inside of her thigh, fingers seeking out her center, thumb circling over the sensitive nub. She gasped, legs shaking as she leaned against him. She panted against his shoulder, hands trailing up his back, over his shoulders, down his chest. And then she began to stroke his dick, and he thrust against her hand, moaning as she squeezed him in just the right way. And then she stopped, letting go of him, bringing her arms around his neck.

"We can't," she said softly, pouting a little. "Not without…" She gave him an apologetic pout. "I'll have my doctor put me on the pill first thing when we get back." She sighed softly when he nuzzled her cheek with his nose. "I just…I don't think we should risk it."

"Would it be that bad?" he asked, finally, looking back to stare into her eyes. She smiled a little. "I wouldn't mind. I just didn't know if…"

"I was so young when Sophia was born," she said softly. "And I raised her alone. I just don't know if…"

"I'm just sayin'…we can if you want. If you ever wanted to. You wouldn't be alone." He kissed her cheek. "We don't have to have 'em. I want you. You're more'n enough for a lifetime, but if you ever wanted more…I'd wanna give you that."

"I love you so much. You know that?" she asked, sighing softly.

"Love you, too," he replied, kissing her, brushing his hand down her back as the warm water splashed over them both.

"I raised my daughter. And maybe…we should have talked about it more. I just…"

"You don't want more?"

"It's not that. I just…things are so new, and I'm not young like I was when Sophia was born. Maybe I can't even get pregnant. Maybe I'm too old."

"You ain't too old," he replied, moving to suckle at her neck.

"Even then…should we even think about it? Sophia begged me for a little sister all of her life, but I think twenty years difference is a little extreme." Daryl snorted at that, nuzzling her neck, hand groping her breast. She moaned softly as he rolled his thumb over her nipple. "You're playing with fire."

"Sorry," he snorted.

"No you're not," she laughed. And then without warning, she began to kiss his chest, moving down to her knees, pressing open mouthed kisses to his stomach, tongue teasing around the belly button as she curled her hand around his cock again.

"Fuck," he panted, leaning out to push his palms against the shower wall, bracing himself as she took him into her mouth, swirling her tongue along the head before giving it a firm suck. She pulled back then, squeezing him from base to tip, running her thumb over the head, teasing him as she looked up at him, eyes dark with desire as he stared down at her, jaw slack as he fought for composure.

Her hands moved over his hips and then to his ass, giving him a squeeze as she took him in her mouth again. It didn't take much before he tipped her chin with his hand, a warning she chose to ignore before he came, spilling into her mouth, moaning her name as she swallowed him down, licking him from base to tip before releasing him.

"Best way to wake up," he murmured sleepily as Carol wiped at the corners of her mouth. She smiled, wrapping her arms around his neck again.

"My turn tomorrow, hmm?"

"Yep," he replied, giving her a kiss on the nose. "Mornin', wife."

"Morning, husband."